Six Nashville schools that have been struggling are being turned into magnet schools this fall. Metro hopes a new pool of students and parents will be drawn to them and academics will improve.
Magnet schools have a reputation of being some of the district’s best and are open to all Metro students no matter where they live.
A $12 million federal grant is being used to restructure the six struggling schools into magnet status.
Each will have a theme like math and engineering. At Pearl-Cohn the focus is entertainment and music business. The idea is students interested in a particular magnet’s theme will come eager to learn, and that should help boost classroom performance.
Alan Coverstone has helped oversee the transition of these six schools. He says students should expect a lot of hands-on learning built around their theme.
“Very few of us go to work and just follow instructions all day. We go to work and we meet people that are different everyday and we interact with different people everyday to solve real problems within a certain context or area that we’re working. And we’re trying to replicate that in our schools knowing, from brain research and otherwise, that that’s how students learn best.”
Coverstone hopes these new magnets will become so popular that next year they’ll be a part of the district’s lottery system. For this year, enrollment begins March 1st and it’s first come-first serve.
Six New MNPS Magnet Schools:
1. Churchwell Elementary – Museum Magnet
2. John Early Middle School – Museum Magnet
3. Hattie Cotton Elementary – Science, Engineering, Technology and Math Magnet (STEM)
4. Bailey Middle School – Science, Engineering, Technology and Math Magnet (STEM)
5. Stratford High School – Science, Engineering, Technology and Math Magnet (STEM)
6. Pearl-Cohn High School – Entertainment and Music Business Magnet
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